Looms may be used to weave one or more pieces of material together to form articles such as a scarf, sock, or rug. Existing weaving looms and methods for creating woven articles are either complex to set up, provide a limited number of items that can be produced, or are simple to use but require repetitive, redundant motion, and are relatively time consuming and monotonous, especially for children. One example of a loom that may be used is a peg loom where a flexible medium is manually woven back and forth around pegs from a first end to a second end. The flexible medium is then woven around pegs in an alternating fashion from the second end to the first end. This process is repeated multiple times until a desired length article is created. Further, if a long article is desired (e.g., 3 feet or longer) it may take hours to weave the flexible medium around the pegs so that an article is formed. Additionally, the width of the article may be limited to the width of the loom, thus, the user may have to settle with an article that has a width that is less than desired or manually connect 1 or more articles together after the articles are removed from the loom.
A potholder loom is a type of loom that is commonly used by children. This loom has a fixed shape (e.g., square) and pegs are aligned around the loom (i.e., the warp) and children weave a medium around the pegs typically using a hand tool so that an article is created. The weaving pattern for these looms may be complex and forming an article may be time consuming such that children may lose interest before completing an article or may not be able to form more complex articles. The articles formed may be limited in size to the size of the loom or may be limited in shape to a shape such as a square. Two examples may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,427,093 and Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0270010 the teachings of which are expressly incorporated by reference herein for all purposes.
Peg weaving looms are a type of loom with a generally fixed shape and one or more pieces of flexible medium are woven around pegs and pieces of flexible medium that are connected to pegs to create an article. The weaving patterns can be complex, especially for children, and it may be time consuming to create an article. An example of a peg weaving loom may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,688,357 the teachings of which are expressly incorporated by reference herein for all purposes.
Another example is a heddle loom, which has a plurality of warp mediums extending a length of the loom or longer. The longer warps may be wrapped around some rods so that another device is passed through and woven around the plurality of warp mediums spanning the length of the loom. This process is repeated until an article of a desired length is created. The set-up of a heddle loom can be complex and time consuming, especially for children, and weaving the mediums through the mediums spanning the length of the loom may be challenging for children and they may lose interest before an article is complete. An example of a heddle loom may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,077,532 the teachings of which are all incorporated by reference herein for all purposes.
Examples of other such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,146,990; 3,888,357; 4,074,726; and 4,103,715 all of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. Thus, there is a need for a device that simplifies creation of article so that young children may quickly and easily make articles that may be varied is size, shape, length, width, or a combination thereof. There is also a need for a simple device that increases the speed of creating an article without affecting the user's sense of input and creative direction, while optimizing the flexibility for generating different types of articles, designs, configurations, color combinations, or a combination thereof. There is a need for a durable device that has a high level of lateral stability so that the device can withstand dropping, bumping, and continual use without moving parts becoming disengaged and requiring repair and/or realignment. It would be attractive to have a process that produces or aids in the production of unique articles.